Brooke Hogan Set to Join TNA Impact Wrestling

Well the last 24 hours has been full of news for both WWE and TNA.  Things seemed to be on a positive path for TNA as they announced Impact would be live all Summer beginning May 31st, but this could turn out to be a "1 step forward 2 steps back" situation as TNA has now announced that Brooke Hogan will be joining Impact Wrestling on May 31st.

There hasn't been very much positive buzz about this at all on the net, as most don't see what Brooke brings to the table being she has never been involved in wrestling before.  The official statement from TNA is that Brooke will be the "Executive in Charge" of the Knockouts.  This role is iffy at best as the Knockout division has always been about respect and quality female wrestling, but now it will be "run" by someone who has never been in a ring and doesn't have much history of her own in wrestling.

I don't think this is going to go over well on live shows either.  The site of Brooke Hogan in the ring directing the Knockouts will be an open invite for the fans to boo her out of the building.  If she came in as a bitchy, drunk with power authority figure it might work with time, but with Hulk Hogan as the big face GM of the company it doesn't look probable any time soon.

TNA is treating this like they've signed a big media star that will also be helping the girls in a variety of ways backstage as well, hmm.  I really don't think anyone is going to buy it, and most everyone will see this as Hogan getting his daughter on TV in the same way Eric Bischoff has his son in a TV role now.  If Brooke had announced her music career had flopped and wanted to train to wrestle and the fans got to see her get her ass kicked and pay her dues, that would be one thing; bringing her in as some sort of media star who is going to be an authority figure....quite the risk.  The big question is now, is TNA fixing their problems or just creating a whole lot more?

Shimmer Celebrates it's 6th Anniversary

Shimmer held it's first event on November 6, 2005 and not much was probably thought about it. All female professional wrestling organizations have been coming and going since the 80's, all of them would last two to three years and then they would go under. Many fans and pro wrestling insiders probably thought the same thing would happen to Shimmer. But Shimmer would take female professional wrestling to another level, and that's why Shimmer is celebrating it's 6th anniversary.

If you watch a WWE Diva's match or a TNA Knockout's match you won't see a match like you do in Shimmer. Yes, there are some talented female wrestlers in WWE and TNA like Mickie James, Beth Phoenix, Natalya, Tara, and Gail Kim but they only make up a small part of the female wrestler roster. The rest of the female wrestlers you will see in WWE and TNA are nothing but a bunch of models pretending to be wrestlers. In Shimmer you will see great matches between great wrestlers, that's why Shimmer calls itself "Shimmer:Women Athletes". At that first show in 2005 there would be a match between Allison Danger and future WWE Women's Champion and WWE Diva's Champion Beth Phoenix. There would be a great match between two of the best female wrestlers in the world today, Mschif and Cheerleader Melissa. Other Shimmer stars that wrestled at that first show were Daizee Haze, Lexie Fyfe, Christie Ricci, Mercedes Martinez, and current Shimmer Champion Sara Del Rey. And this was just the first show, these great matches and great shows have been going on for six years now. Another reason why Shimmer has been so successful is because they release their shows straight to DVD instead of trying to get a deal to be on cable television.

So many of the all female wrestling promotions before Shimmer would get cable TV deals but when the ratings didn't pan out, they would get cancelled and that would be the end of their promotion. But with Shimmer taking the approach of releasing their shows straight to DVD it would give them a better way of connecting with their fanbase. Shimmer has put together a package that has proven to be an absolute success, something those promotions before them couldn't do. So if you haven't seen Shimmer yet, I highly recommend that you go to http://www.shimmerwrestling.blogspot.com/ and order their DVDs, you won't regret it.

Huge TNA Spoilers: New Heavyweight Champion Crowned

**Warning, spoilers for this Thursdays Impact ahead, don't read if you want to be surprised**


Coming off TNA's biggest pay per view of the year, Bound for Glory, there have been many reports about the locker room being unhappy that Bobby Roode didn't beat Kurt Angle for the TNA Title.  Hulk Hogan has been very vocal recently in the media on his Twitter page recently about many of the TNA talents.  He stated last week that he didn't think Bobby Roode was "the guy," and word was that Hogan himself lobbied to change the original finish in the Bound for Glory main event which had Roode winning the belt.

Hogan had also mentioned last week that he believed James Storm should get a big push over Roode, and tonight at the Impact tapings that belief became apparent to all as James Storm defeated Kurt Angle and won the TNA World Title.  This was a pretty big swerve, as many believe Roode would still end up winning the title soon.  Storm is more of a character than Roode, and it seems like Hogan saw much more in him since Storm is now the reigning TNA Champion.  It should be interesting now to see where this story goes, since a Roode heel turn and feud with Storm seems like a natural direction, but it's hard to tell where they will go at this point.

In another spoiler from the Impact tapings, Gail Kim returned to TNA and looks to have returned as a heel alongside Karen Jarrett judging by the couple of pics we've seen.  Gail was a huge part of building the Knockout Division, and her classic matches with Awesome Kong (Kharma) set the tone for the success of the Knockouts.  Gail's return is a major boost to the Knockout division, and many more potential great Knockout matches will no doubt be on the way with Gail in the mix.

Check out Impact this Thursday on Spike and see all of these major developments unfold!

Related Content:
TNA Knockout Gail Kim poses nude in Korean Magazine

Queens of the Ring: Alundra Blayze

Debra Ann Miceli was born February 9, 1964 in Milan,Italy but was raised in several different foster homes in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Throughout her years in school she participated in gymnastics and track, and after school she began working as a nurse part-time. She began her professional wrestling career in 1984, she was trained by Eddie Sharkey in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After her training she wrestled on the independent circuit for $5.00 a match. In 1986 she began wrestling in the American Wrestling Association under the name Madusa Miceli. On December 27, 1987 she defeated Candy Devine to win the AWA World Women's Championship, which she held until November 26, 1988 when she lost it to Wendy Richter.

In 1988 Miceli was the first woman to be awarded Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Rookie of the Year award. In 1989 she began wrestling for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. She won the IWA Women's title from Chigusa Nagayo but unfortunately lost it back to her the next day. She then began training in Japan, learning muay thai, kickboxing, and boxing. She would later sign a 3-year deal with New Japan Wrestling, becoming the first non-Japanese wrestler to do so. In 1991, while in New Japan Wrestling, Miceli and Eddie Gilbert defeated Luna Vachon and Cactus Jack. Later that same year she joined World Championship Wrestling as part of Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance acting as Rick Rude's manager.

In 1993 she signed with the WWF which had reinstated the Women's Championship that had been inactive since 1990. Vince McMahon didn't want to pay Miceli to use her 'Madusa' name, which she had copyrighted, so she wrestled under the name Alundra Blayze. She wrestled in a six-woman tournament to crown the new Women's Champion. On December 13, 1993 she pinned Heidi Lee Morgan in the final to win the title. She lost the title twice, once to Bull Nakano and once to Bertha Faye, but regained the title both times. She was still the Women's Champion when the WWF released her from her contract due to their financial difficulties.

In December of 1995 she signed with WCW where she would throw the WWF Women's Championship belt in a trash can. She would later say that she regretted doing so but was ordered to do it by Eric Bischoff. While in WCW she once again wrestled under the name Madusa, she would defeat Bull Nakano at the Hog Wild PPV in August. Later that year WCW would establish the WCW Women's Championship, there would be a tournament to crown the first champion. Miceli made it to the tournament finals but lost to Akira Hokuto, whom she feuded with for the next six months. They would meet at the Great American Bash in 1996 for the title in a Hair vs. Career match; unfortunately Miceli lost the match. She would return to WCW in 1999 where she would be part of Randy Savage's Team Madness with Gorgeous George and Miss Madness. At Starrcade in 1999 she would defeat Evan Karagias to become the first woman to hold the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. Once Vince McMahon bought WCW in 2001 she retired because she didn't want to work for the WWF due to the direction the Women's division was going in.

After retiring from pro wrestling Miceli began racing monster trucks. She won multiple freestyle competitions and became the first woman to win the Monster Jam World Finals Racing Championship in 2005. She married Alan Jonason on June 25, 2011 and now spends her time running her pet grooming businesses in Lecanto, Fl. And although Miceli stays busy with her businesses and many hobbies she doesn't rule out a return to the ring. In an interview with WWE.com she said “Once wrestling gets in your blood it's always going to be there, you've got a bag packed and ready to go.” So maybe one these days Meceli will return to the ring, but who will she return as? Alundra Blayze, Madusa, Debra Miceli, or who she really is: Queen of the Ring.

Jackie Gayda Haas Wins First Place in Figure Competition

Now don't get me wrong, I love females who keep themselves in shape. But on the flip side of the coin, I can't dig a chick whose ripped, shredded and looks like her skin is the gift wrap on a bag of bones....Excuse me, I think I just threw up in my mouth....

Remember Jackie Gayda Haas?...No? Really?

Well, back when WWE Tough Enough was just getting started, she was one of the original contestants....Still nothing huh? She also managed some ja-brone named Rico...Yeah, that's not worth remembering either. Well, let's assume you did remember her as a WWE Diva who then turned TNA Knockout and became the wife of former WWE superstar Charlie Haas. Bottomline is that she's put the wrestling business behind her and has now focused her career on fitness and bodybuilding.

Seems like things are paying off in her new career venture because she recently competed in the Bill Grant Classic Bodybuilding Competition and won first place in two categories. Not bad for a rookie. Check out the exclusive video montage of her competition and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

And as a side note - there was a tremendous bikini contest that non-shredded, Skeletor-looking chicks were NOT involved in. So if you're interested in seeing some smoking hot thickness that know how to fill out a thong, post your requests below and I'll be sure to share that video as well with you readers!

Buy a Date with Shelly "Salinas" Martinez for Only 5 Grand! (So Far)

You, yes YOU, can go on a **lunch with wrestling diva/knockout Shelly Martinez** former nude model and even had a fetish video last year, so people instantly think they're getting some action. Well whoever pays that price hopefully understands what they're getting, and hopefully can take a major hit to their bank account.

We'd definitely like to get some reports on how this super expensive date goes when all is said and done.
known as "Salinas" in TNA as part of LAX and "Ariel" in WWE's ECW, Shelly recently left TNA due to signing on to do a movie, but that doesn't mean you can't fly yourself out to L.A. and go eat at the famous Mr. Chow restaurant and hang with Shelly - all for around 5 grand as of this writing.

Now I'm sure half the people that bid on this are horny guys who think they're going to get to hook up with Ms. Martinez in their dream fantasy, but in reality this auction will probably have some ups and downs before a legit buyer comes through. And keep in mind, 5 grand is only for the date, you still have to fly yourself out to L.A. at your own expense. This was a cool idea to do for any huge Salinas fans out there, but as I mentioned, a lot of people probably won't be able to cover that sort of price (and the auction still has over 5 days,) but people are excited at the idea being it's well known and as we've mentioned here before that Shelly has done some

** The above link has been updated, due to Ebay taking the original auction down due to it sounding too much like a HOT date with Shelly, like an almost, um, prostitution type situation. The auction is now labeled as a personal autograph signing/lunch with Shelly Martinez **